The Kansas City Royals were locked in another tight game Wednesday night against the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium.
This time, the club fell a little short.
The Royals fell 3-1 to snap their five-game winning streak. And the loss stung in multiple ways.
Royals starter Cole Ragans left early due to left tricep and elbow soreness. He pitched three scoreless innings before exiting after 58 pitches.
“Yeah, just bottom of the tricep and back of the elbow,” Ragans said postgame. “Just got a little tight. I’ve been through the elbow stuff. You know, it got to a point where I didn’t feel like I needed to push it anymore. Talked to (Royals pitching coach Brian) Sweeney and all of them. Figured that was the best decision.”
The Royals (17-20) quickly warmed up right-hander Luinder Avila. The 24-year-old reliever covered two innings in relief.
In the fourth inning, Avila surrendered a two-run single to Guardians designated hitter Chase DeLauter. Both runs scored after Cleveland (19-19) executed a double steal to get the runners into scoring position.
“I mean the walk hurt him, you know, and allowing those guys to steal on him,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “And he’s got great stuff. Those are the finer points. When you are in a one-run game, you’ve got to be able to execute there.”
Ragans had trouble with his command in the first inning. He walked Guardians duo Angel Martinez and Jose Ramirez in the frame. However, he escaped trouble with three strikeouts to strand both runners.
“I thought the ball was coming out good and the stuff was good,” Ragans said of his performance prior to the tightness.
Ragans retired six of his next eight batters. But his velocity dipped to around 92 mph in the third inning. His last pitch registered 94.3 mph as the Royals retired the side.
Ragans has dealt with elbow trouble before, but this sensation was different. In his career, he has undergone two Tommy John surgeries.
“I haven’t felt anything like this,” Ragans said. “I’ve been through the elbow stuff. I know it’s not what I’ve been through before. So we’ll kind of do some other stuff and kind of go from there.”
Quatraro is hopeful the injury is minor. He said that Ragans alerted the coaching staff after the third inning.
“Just trying to be cautious and get him out of there,” Quatraro said. “And we’ll get some more evaluations tomorrow and see what we have. We don’t think it’s serious. You know, we’re hopeful for the next start and we’ll see where he is after we evaluate it tomorrow.”
The Royals never recovered Wednesday evening. Salvador Perez drove in the lone run with a sacrifice fly in the third inning.
Guardians pitchers held the Royals to four hits. KC third baseman Maikel Garcia logged two of the four singles against Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo.
Cantillo allowed one run over five innings. From there, Guardians relievers Matt Festa, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith allowed one hit to finish the game.
“I think he executed his pitches,” Garcia said of Cantillo. “And you know, some days it’s the pitcher’s day and some days it’s the offense’s day. So it was not our day. Just move on and focus on tomorrow.”
Guardians outfielder David Fry added a key insurance run in the eighth. He recorded an RBI groundout as Ramirez scored.
The Royals will try to win the series Thursday afternoon. For now, all eyes are on Ragans as he gets a further examination tomorrow.
“He’s our best pitcher in the rotation,” Garcia said. “And you know, hopefully nothing is bad and he can get back on the mound. We need him.”
What’s next: Royals right-hander Seth Lugo (1-1, 2.68 ERA) will start Thursday’s finale against the Guardians at Kauffman Stadium. He will oppose Guardians righty Slade Cecconi (1-4, 6.56 ERA) with first pitch set for 1:10 p.m. Central.
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